Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters tops US box office
Story by Jack Foley
HANSEL & Gretel: Witch Hunters has topped the US box office with $19 million.
The film, which pairs Gemma Arterton and Jeremy Renner for an R-rated action-adventure based on the classic fairytale characters, had been expected to make slightly more than its eventual sum but performed better than several other R-rated releases over the three-day period.
Jason Statham-Jennifer Lopez crime thriller Parker and star-studded comedy Movie 43 both bombed.
Directed by Taylor Hackford (of Ray fame), Parker could only manage fifth spot with $7 million, while Movie 43 fared even worse, tying for sixth with Django Unchained with $5 million.
Another flop, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s action comeback The Last Stand dropped out of the top 10 list completely in only its second weekend, taking only $2.1 million to register 16th despite warm reviews.
That left the US top five looking as follows: Hansel & Gretel came top with last week’s box office champ, the horror movie Mama, coming in second with $12.9 million in its second weekend and a US total so far of $48.6 million.
In third spot was Silver Linings Playbook, which took a further $10 million to bring its US haul to $69.5 million, while Kathryn Bigelow’s controversial Zero Dark Thirty came fourth with $9.8 million for a domestic total of $70 million.
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